SDP Calculator: The Deployed 10%
The Savings Deposit Program pays a guaranteed 10% a year on up to $10,000 while you serve in a designated combat zone, and interest keeps running for 90 days after you return. Timing is everything: the earlier you deposit, the more quarters you earn.
The rules that matter:
- Eligibility generally opens after 30 consecutive days in the designated area (or one day in each of three consecutive months).
- Deposits go through your finance office, by allotment, cash, or check. Front-load to the $10,000 max as fast as cash flow allows.
- Interest stops 90 days after you return. Request the payout; it does not arrive by itself.
- Estimates use 10% compounded quarterly. DFAS keeps the official ledger. Full strategy: the deployment money stack.
How this works
What the Savings Deposit Program pays on money you deposit while deployed.
The arithmetic
- Compounds your deposits quarterly at 2.5% per quarter, which is the 10% annual rate expressed per quarter.
- Caps the interest-bearing balance at $10,000.
- Continues accruing for three months after your return date.
The law behind this: 10 U.S.C. § 1035
Deposits of savings: read the statute.
What this does not account for
- The statute sets a ceiling rather than a rate: interest accrues "at a rate prescribed by the President, not to exceed 10 percent a year". This tool assumes the full 10%, which is the long-standing programme rate. Confirm the current rate with your finance office.
- The $10,000 limit is on the amount that earns interest, not on what you may deposit.
- Interest terminates 90 days after your return to the United States or its possessions, which is the three-month tail this models.
- Eligibility depends on your deployment location and duration, which this tool does not check.
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.